Acer Garden Trees

Acer Trees  (Japanese Maples) Acer Palmatum

Acer Trees are stunning smaller growing deciduous trees grown for their outstanding beauty and architectural splendour. To make an eye catching focal point in any sized garden, Japanese Maples are an excellent choice. These stunning plants are native to Japan as the name implies and are also native to parts of Russia, China and Korea. Japanese Maples have many cultivars and were introduced to the UK in the early 1800’s by a Swedish botanist who gave them the name Palmatum after the hand shaped leaves.

The cultivars have their own unique qualities over and above the beautiful leaf colours for example the Bloodgood Acer Tree is a strong upright variety and slow growing, the Palmatum Dissectum Acer Tree is a small plant ideal for smaller areas or gardens and the Dissectum Garnet Japanese Maple  is a more colourful form again smaller in habit.

The Orange Dream Acer Tree is large and bushy with the usual vibrant blaze of colourful leaves one expects of the Japanese Maples. The delightful coral red bark on the Sango Kaku Acer Trees are particularly noticeable in the garden in the autumn and winter as the awesome red yellow and golden coloured leaves of the Maples fall leaving the stems providing the focal point of colour in the garden.They are popular for the exquisite art of Bonsai so popular with Japanese gardeners and designers.

For best results Acer Trees or Japanese Maples should be grown in a sheltered spot in the garden away from strong winds and some shade to protect from harsh sunlight both of which can affect the filigreed leaves for which they are known. These beautiful little trees prefer neutral to acidic soil that is well drained, if your soil isn’t suitable they also make ideal container plants which can be filled with a suitable medium such as ericaceous compost with a little extra grit added for drainage. As they are slow growing these little trees will give many years of pleasure in a pot before they eventually need planting out into the garden.  They can be planted with the appropriate amount of shelter by ponds and indeed on patios as they will come to no harm if grown in pots or containers.

When planting your new Acer Trees we always recommend adding rootgrow at planting time to give them the very best start in life.